Being bloated at the end of the day is straight up annoying. When you finally get home from work, you want to be able to relax, watch TV, and eat a bowl of something delicious, all of which is difficult to do when you feel like a hot air balloon. Luckily, if you're puffed up after hours, there are some super simple and delicious dinners you can make that will help you deflate.
Before we get to those recipes, try to determine what's causing your bloat. Bloat can mean a couple things: Either that you're full of trapped gas or that you're experiencing fluid retention. That gassiness is often a result of eating too many high fiber foods. Fluid retention, on the other hand, typically occurs when you've consumed too much salt. Basically, if you're bloated in the evening, it's not unlikely that your lunch is the culprit.
To alleviate trapped gas, you'll want to eat foods that will relax your gastrointestinal (GI) tract, as well as a lot of water and a little fiber (but not too much!) to get your digestive system up and running. If fluid retention is your problem, try consuming a lot of water and eating foods with naturally high water contents. It might sound backward, but when your body is holding onto water, it needs even more water to get it to let go.
These three dinner recipes were developed by Robynne Chutkan, M.D., author of The Microbiome Solution: A Radical New Way To Heal Your Body From The Inside Out, specifically to help reduce your bloat. Each one contains a different mix of those helpful characteristics listed above—some have a bit of fiber, and others are full of water-packed veggies—so they'll help you feel better, no matter the source of your swell.
This soup gets a little hit of fiber (and protein) from those lentils. It's packed with watery vegetables like celery, onions, and tomatoes which will better help that fiber do it's job and flush the gas out of your GI tract.
Makes 12 servings
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 large celery stalks, chopped into 1/2-inch segments
- 2 large carrots, chopped into thin rounds
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 8 cups low-sodium organic vegetable or chicken broth
- 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, including juice
- 2 cups green lentils, rinsed
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves (about half a bunch)
- Freshly ground black pepper
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the celery, carrots, onions, garlic, rosemary, and oregano. Sauté until the onions are translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the vegetable or chicken broth and tomatoes with their juice. Bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the vegetables are just tender, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Add the lentils. Cover and continue simmering until the lentils are softened, about 1 hour. Stir in the parsley. Season the soup to taste with freshly ground black pepper. Ladle into bowls and serve.
Optional: Serve over basmati rice, or, to boost the nutritional value of the meal, add in some kale or spinach at the end.
Similar to the recipe above, this stew has a helpful amount of fiber and lots of fluids. Cauliflower—a cruciferous vegetable—is often associated with giving you gas, rather than relieving it. However, Chutkan explains that these kinds of vegetables will only make your bloat worse if you're eating them in large quantities. This dish hits that sweet spot. The ginger in this dish will also relax your GI tract which will help you feel better ASAP.
Makes two servings
- 1 to 2 cups cooked brown rice or quinoa
- 2 to 3 tablespoons coconut oil or olive oil
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- 4 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 cup curry and turmeric roasted cauliflower
- 2 carrots, sliced into thin rounds
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas
- 1 bunch kale, stalks removed and discarded and leaves sliced thin
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- 1/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped
- 1 bunch of fresh parsley, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
For the dressing:
- 1/2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon raw honey
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Reheat the precooked brown rice. Divide the rice into two separate bowls. Heat a large pan over medium-high heat and add the coconut oil. Stir in onion, carrots, and celery. Sauté the vegetables for 3 to 4 minutes, until they begin to soften and brown. In the last minute, toss in the cauliflower and chickpeas. Next, add the kale to the mix and allow the kale to slightly wilt for about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and add the baby spinach and tomatoes. Place the sautéed mixture over the brown rice. Add in the dried apricots. To make the dressing, mix together the ginger, lemon juice, honey, mustard, and red pepper flakes in a small mixing bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil, to form and emulsion. Drizzle the dressing over the bowls. Toss lightly. Top with toasted pecans and fresh parsley. Save any remaining dressing in the refrigerator for up to four days.
This dish is perfect for any fluid retention-related bloat because it's packed with watery vegetables like bell peppers, mushrooms, and snow peas.
Makes two to four servings
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil
- 1 small red onion, sliced
- 1 head of broccoli, cut into bite-size florets
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 1 red or orange bell pepper, cored, seeded, and sliced into small strips
- 1/2 cup snow peas, ends removed
- 2 carrots, sliced into thin rounds
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
For the marinade:
- 1/2-inch piece of fresh ginger, grated
- 1 tablespoon tamari
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1/2 teaspoon mirin
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice
Heat a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the coconut oil and onion. Sauté the onion for 2 minutes. Add the broccoli, mushrooms, bell pepper, snow peas, carrot, and garlic to the pan. Cook for another 3 minutes. To make the marinade, mix the ginger, tamari, water, mirin, maple syrup, chili pepper flakes, and orange juice in a small bowl. Whisk together. Allow the marinade to condense for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the marinade over the vegetables. Serve with brown rice or on its own.
Optional: Add ½ pound of peeled and deveined small to medium shrimp at the same time that the marinade is added. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the shrimp curls and turns light pink.
These recipes originally appeared in Gutbliss: A 10 Day Plan To Ban Bloat, Flush Toxins, And Dump Your Digestive Baggage (Penguin 2013) and Microbiome Solution: A Radical New Way To Heal Your Body From The Inside Out (Penguin 2015) both by Robynne Chutkan, M.D., F.A.S.G.E.